SCOTTS VALLEY -- UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal spoke of university successes and challenges to higher education in California during a talk Sunday in front of the League of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County.

Blumenthal was the featured speaker at the league's annual Valentine's Day Luncheon, an event which helps fund the group's voter services work. The event was held this year at the Hilton hotel in Scotts Valley.

Answering a question from the audience, Blumenthal said he doesn't believe he will be offered the job as president of the UC system after current president Mark Yudof retires in August.

But he said he believes it is a critical time for good leadership, as higher education is at a critical juncture in California due to changes in funding, demographics, online learning, competition from other countries and new business models.

"The next five years will be crucial; we'll define higher education for years to come," he said. "It's a defining moment."

Blumenthal fielded other questions about the increasing number of non-resident students admitted and the dearth of highly qualified workers able to fill jobs needed in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

League member Sue Becker asked him to talk about expansion, city water challenges and consideration of a possible desalination plant.

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Blumenthal said the UC system is mandated to serve the top 12.5 percent of state students and that UCSC is one of the few campuses in the system that has room to grow.

"In the last few years, we haven't kept up," he said.

He said the city would have water problems in dry years even if the university did not exist. He said UCSC uses 6 percent of the water used in the city and that water use on campus has dropped 22 percent over the past 10 years.

Blumenthal said the university was not driving exploration of desalination.

"It's a legitimate issue," he said. "But in my view, as we grow, we won't use more water. We'll use what we have more efficiently."

Becker, after the meeting, said she still wonders about water use and growth.

"I'm not sure about all that, but we need the university," she said.

A teacher in the audience, Lisa Dilles, said she sees many benefits from local schools being able to work with UCSC.

Blumenthal mentioned that the university's Cal Teach program encourages science and engineering students to teach.

He voiced a strong opinion about school district funding for the lower grades in California, saying the practice of districts having to give pink slips to teachers in the spring and rescinding them a few months later is something that must be changed.

"That's lunacy, I wouldn't put up with that," he said.

Blumenthal stressed connections between the university and surrounding community and mentioned accomplishments by professors and students, telling the group they should be proud of their neighbors.

Answering a question from former Mayor Emily Reilly, he said UCSC is committed to supporting the arts. He said new Dean of the Arts David Yager has been wonderful and dreams of a creating new community arts institute.

He also said UCSC is a liberal arts university and committed to those disciplines and that he expects a new doctoral program in Latin American and Latino Studies will receive national attention.

He said years of cutbacks to the university's budget remain a problem, but that he is optimistic about the university's future.

Jan Karwin of the League of Women Voters said the event went well.

"It was very informative," she said. "We appreciate all the information about the university."